Records Management and Local Government in the United Kingdom: The Way Forward?
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb027029 |
| Date | 01 March 1989 |
| Pages | 121-126 |
| Published date | 01 March 1989 |
| Author | Christine Wright |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
Records Management and Local
Government in the United Kingdom:
The Way Forward?
Christine Wright
In the six months that I have lived and worked in Western Australia I have been
forcibly struck by the differences and the similarities in records management
here in comparison with the United Kingdom. It is inevitable, although not
desirable, to go through this process of comparison. When I chose to emigrate I
attempted to maintain an open mind about my new life and the working
environment I was likely to encounter. I have been pleasantly surprised to
discover that my experiences and perceptions of records management are
generally in accord with those of Western Australian colleagues, despite
differences in background and situation.
When I was asked to contribute this article my initial response was one of
guarded enthusiasm as my experiences in the United Kingdom were atypical
and could not, I felt, give a true reflection of the situation as
a
whole.
I came into
records management because of a particularly unpleasant situation, the
abolition of the local authority for which I worked, and my total experience
evolved around that situation. I also began my career as an archivist and my
whole working life has been spent in a record office whose first priority was,
until recently, archives.
The basis of this article is my personal experiences as the First Assistant
Archivist and later Deputy County Archivist for Greater Manchester County
in the North West of England between the years 1984 and 1988. The opinions
expressed in it are largely personal but to a certain extent represent a growing
body of opinion, particularly amongst the younger members of both
professions. Like many archivists in the United Kingdom today although
largely responsible for the development of archive services for the record office I
was closely involved with the development of the records management function
of the office.
Greater Manchester County Record Office came into being in 1976 as a result
of the setting up of the Metropolitan Counties following regional
reorganisation in 1974. When I joined it in 1983 the office had recently moved
into newly converted premises. At that time the archival collections were in
disarray, having been housed in three separate locations and moved around
quite frequently within those locations. The initial priority was to solve this
problem and make the collections available to an eager public. Records
management only became a priority in late 1984 when the Local Government
Act (1984) abolishing the Metropolitan Counties on 1 April 1986 became a
reality.
To explain the actual events of the ensuing two years would require a whole
article on its own and does not make particularly interesting reading. Suffice to
say that we, along with the five other metropolitan record offices involved, were
121
To continue reading
Request your trial